Seedan

Certain things have to be made clear before choosing to watch ‘Seedan’. Dhanush might have appeared in major portions of the film’s teaser, but he just plays an ‘amazing cameo’ (as credited in opening titles). Next thing is about the fact that ‘Seedan’ works majorly from feminine point of view. Well the film completely focalizes on the problems and emotions of Mahalakshmi (Ananya), an orphan raised by a rich family. She is sweet at heart and is always loved by the family members, especially the family elder Amritam Paatti (Chemeen Sheela). Just as Maha dreams about marrying a young good looking guy, she is surprised to see him as Mano (Krishna) arrive at the house only to discover that he is the grandson of Amritam. Both of them apparently fall in love, but the opposition comes through the family as Mano’s mother (Suhasini). Maha becomes infuriated with Lord Murugan, whom she worships everyday from her childhood for leading her into such critical situations. Then comes Saravanan (Dhanush), a cook and his arrival results in unexpected twists as the problems of Maha get solved one by one.

Malayalam movie ‘Nandanam’ was nearly a decade back (2002) and having adapted the theme, Subramaniam Siva tries giving a best treatment to the script. But again, the Malayalam shade prevails throughout the movie as the style of picturing, dialogues and screenplay goes the same way. The first half lacks pace in many places as the 60mins revolves around Krishna, Ananya and other minor characters. But with the appearance of Dhanush during the point of intermission raises everyone’s interests. Dhanush is too young for this role, but he does his role well. His hilarious encounters with Vivek, the fake God man Gumbidi Saamy is rib-tickling. Ananya looks cute, but she would look much beautiful if she tries shedding some weight. But she excels with her impressive acting. Newcomer Krishna is handsome and does his part well. Chemeen Sheela, Suhasini Manirathnam and Ponvannan are over the top with their performances.

Subramaniam Siva deserves special pat for his dialogues as they win applause at places.

Much specifically, don’t miss the philosophical lines by Dhanush. The shot where Dhanush performs a magic by designing Ananya’s saree is a special surprise.

On the flip side, the film’s screenplay is too slow and lots of emotional quotients would gradually make the audiences filled with boredom. The romantic dialogues are too outdated and Subramaniam Siva could have laid importance to it. But the surprise element during climax is something unexpected.

Dheena’s musical score is mediocre with the ‘Saravana Samayal’ standing out as the cherry-pick. Srinivas’ cinematography is neat as he shoots the complete film with soft and glossy touch. Hats off to art director Jackie for the best set erection of ancestral house…

On the whole, ‘Seedan’ has some interesting elements and it turns to be a good show for women audiences while for the mass audiences, it has nothing special to offer.